Unconditional
by Byakugou
Summary: Sakura always knew being married to the Hokage would mean taking a back seat to his responsibilities to the village. She's fine with it, but Naruto isn't.


**Author's Note:** Happy Father's Day! Hope you had a good one. So, this is sort of my contribution of a Father's Day fic and it's loosely connected to a previously NaruSaku fic of mine, Burnt Eggs and Toast, though I don't think you need to read that first in order to understand this one. And I don't mind if you don't read that fic because I seriously need to edit it and I'm sure once I get around to it I'll find it plenty embarrassing -_- Me and my self critical ways. Anyways, this has had basic editing, but I apologize for any mistakes. I don't usually catch a lot of errors until going back later. But, enjoy!

* * *

"Naruto," the voice called out to him from a distant place but he brushed it off, unwilling to awaken from his much needed nap. "Naruto, wake up!" The voice said much more forcefully and the next thing he knew, he was rudely jolted awake by a blow to the back of his head.

With a yelp, Naruto sat upright in his chair and rubbed his head. He looked up to see Tsunade looming over him and Shikamaru standing on the other side of his desk, looking bored.

"What's going on?" he said. His mind was still hazy from sleep as he glanced from Tsunade to Shikamaru and back again. "And what'd you have to hit me for?"

Tsunade sighed irritably. "I called your name for almost five minutes, and when that didn't work I tried shaking you. I figured it would be the only way to wake you up since nothing else would."

"So what happened? Did I miss a meeting or something?" Naruto said, blinking his heavy eyelids and struggling to keep them open.

"Not this time," said Shikamaru. "But you've been pretty useless the last week."

If he weren't so exhausted, Naruto would have tried to argue that he most certainly was not useless. But even he knew it was sort of true. In the week since Naruto had resumed his Hokage duties, he'd forgotten meetings, fallen asleep at his desk more times than he could count, and was even more behind on the never ending stream of mission reports and paperwork than usual.

"What Shikamaru is trying to say, is that you can't do much good here right now. You're spreading yourself too thin. Go home, try to get some rest and help out your wife. And once you've had some time to get yourself together, you can come back. Until then, Shikamaru and I can handle things," Tsunade said. Her commanding reminded Naruto of the time when she was the Hokage – used to giving orders and not taking no for an answer.

"But it was Sakura-chan's idea for me to go back to work," Naruto said, raking his fingers through his messy hair. "I wanted to stay and help her for a while longer, but she insisted that she'd be fine on her own and I have to put the village first." Naruto frowned, looking down at the smooth surface of his desk.

He thought he did a pretty good job in keeping the village and his responsibilities as Hokage as a priority, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't currently struggling to balance his personal life with his obligations to his village. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be.

Shikamaru let out a groan. "I'll never understand why you let that woman push you around," he said and Naruto shot him a glare. But Shikamaru didn't appear the least bit intimidated and simply shrugged. "You know it's true. Sakura has you wrapped around her finger, it's seriously troublesome."

Naruto decided to let that comment go, mostly because he was too tired to bother. He just wanted to lay his head down on his desk and nap a little while longer. Just a few minutes and he'd be able to get back to work, good as new.

As if reading his thoughts, Tsunade put one hand on her hip and scowled, leaning in so that her shadow fell over his slumped form.

"I won't tell you again. Go home, or I'll be forced to literally throw you out," she said, and Naruto sat up straighter. He had little doubt she'd do it too if he didn't comply.

"Alright, alright I'm going," he said, waving his arms defensively.

"Good," Tsunade said with a satisfied nod. "And if you're worried about getting in trouble with Sakura, you can just tell her it was my idea."

Letting out a resigned sign, Naruto stood from his chair. His lower back protested with a sharp ache as he straightened and he wondered briefly how long he'd been asleep as his desk before Shikamaru and Tsunade found him.

"Good luck getting any sleep with a screaming kid in the house," Shikamaru said cynically as Naruto made his way to the door.

Irritated, Naruto spun around and pointed a finger at his advisor. "Just wait, someday you'll have a kid and you won't get any sleep, and when that happens I'm just gonna laugh!"

Not giving Shikamaru the chance to make another snarky remark Naruto turned quickly and left, letting the door slam a little too loudly behind him.

* * *

When Naruto arrived at the front door of his house a few minutes later, he opened the door with very deliberate care, acutely aware of every creak and squeak of the hinges. Closing the door after him with as little noise as possible, Naruto listened for any sound inside but the house was silent – an unusual occurrence these days. His first instinct was to call out to Sakura, though he was quick to remind himself not to. He would only make that mistake once if he could help it.

Shrugging off his cloak, Naruto hung it on the coatrack next to the door and toed off his shoes. Leaving the entryway, he walked through the kitchen and into a short hall before he stepped into the living room, where he finally found Sakura lying fast asleep on the sofa.

Naruto stood at the threshold of the living room for a moment and watched her sleep. As he took in the sight of her, a tender smile turned up the corners of his mouth and he felt an outpouring of affection swell in his chest. Sakura's hair was loose and falling over her face, one arm hanging over the edge of the sofa and he noticed the dark circles shadowing her eyes.

The curves of her of her body were softer and more filled out than they once were and Naruto knew she wasn't entirely happy about the changes, but he had to admit he didn't really understand why. She was no less beautiful even if her figure had changed some. To him, she was perfect.

He felt a little guilty though. The last few weeks had been a lot harder on Sakura than him and he wondered if he'd really done enough. He could barely make it through the day without falling asleep, but he knew Sakura had barely slept at all for three weeks.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura spoke suddenly, revealing that she was not, in fact, asleep but her green eyes now open and watching him through the curtain of her hair.

"Ah, Sakura-chan, I thought you were sleeping," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura sat up and started gathering her loose hair to tie back in a messy ponytail. "I was until I heard the door open. You might be able to sleep through a hurricane, hon, but you know it doesn't take much to wake me up," she said, giving him a small smile even though she still looked completely exhausted.

Naruto chuckled lightly, mindful not to be too loud. It was true that there were very few things that could wake him up from a dead sleep, though there was one thing that never seemed to fail. And speaking of… "Where's the baby?"

"In the next room, finally down for her nap," Sakura said and bobbed her head in the direction of the nursery. "Now, why aren't you at work?"

She didn't seem angry, but Naruto knew that didn't always mean anything. Sakura had been known to smile right before punching someone now and then.

"Baa-chan kicked me out," he said and Sakura laughed; a light, musical sound.

"So you've been banned from the office until further notice?"

"Pretty much," he nodded. Feeling sure now that he wasn't in any trouble Naruto walked over to the sofa and fell back, splaying out next to Sakura with his arms resting on top of the backrest.

Sakura leaned back against his chest and let out a contented sigh. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Naruto pulled her closer and buried his nose in her hair, taking in the sweet scent and simply enjoying her closeness.

They were quiet for a while and Naruto started to think Sakura had fallen back to sleep, when she spoke up again. "Naruto?" she said.

"Yeah," he asked.

"I'm sorry, about pushing you into going back to work. I thought it would be easier for you and I guess I wanted to make sure I wasn't holding you back from your responsibilities," she said, sounding regretful. But Naruto had to admit he felt a little lost as to what she was talking about.

"What do you mean, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura shifted around to look at him. "Naruto, you're the Hokage, and that means that no matter what the village has to come first. Masaaki and I have to take a back seat to that and I always knew it would be that way. I'm fine with it, but I'm not sure you are."

At first Naruto blinked at her but once her words began to sink in, he looked away. She was right. Naruto had wanted to be Hokage as long as he could remember, but even deeper than that he'd longed for a family of his own.

Now he had one and he didn't want to feel like he took them for granted, not even for a second. He wanted to be with his wife and newborn daughter, even if it were to the detriment of the obligations he'd accepted more than a year ago when he became Hokage. He couldn't do that. Too many people were relying on him, trusting him to lead and protect them.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted then by a shrill cry and he felt Sakura sag against him wearily.

"Is that an 'I'm hungry' cry or a 'change me' cry?" he said, looking over his shoulder towards the sound of the insistent cries of his daughter.

"Neither. That's her 'hold me' cry," Sakura said.

"I don't know how you can tell the difference," said Naruto, making a face to illustrate his confusion.

Sakura smiled. "Intuition, I guess." She began to pull away from him to stand, but Naruto stopped her.

"I'll get her," he offered.

"Thank you," Sakura said, sinking back into the sofa cushion with a groan.

Rising to his feet, Naruto quickly headed down the hall to nursery room. In the middle of the room was the crib where is his daughter lay, flailing her arms and her face turning a deeper red the more she cried. Naruto cringed a little at the sheer volume of her wails; she definitely had a very healthy set of lungs that was for sure.

"Saaki-chan, you don't have to cry," he said, hoping to sound soothing.

Masaaki's cries started to calm once she heard his voice and Naruto leaned down to reach into the crib. Slipping one hand underneath the baby's head and the other supporting her tiny body, Naruto lifted Masaaki from the crib and held her close to his chest. He rocked in place, talking softly to the infant and gradually she settled, her loud cries quieting to low whines.

"See, you're all right," Naruto said, grinning.

His daughter only stared back with a concentration that always made him wonder what she was thinking. Masaaki's eyes were still the dark blue-gray color Sakura had told him all babies were born with, so he had no idea whether they would turn out to be green like Sakura's or blue like his. Sakura said it would still be a while before they changed. The thin, downy hair on the baby's head was red, a couple shades lighter than his mother's had been.

Naruto brushed away the trails of tears running down Masaaki's cheeks with his thumb. She was so small and fragile looking, just the thought of anything ever hurting her was enough to churn his stomach. He liked to think he would always be able to protect her, but Naruto knew he couldn't. One day, Masaaki might decide to follow in his and Sakura's footsteps and become a ninja, and Naruto wouldn't have the heart to stop her if that was what she wanted.

After some minutes had passed, Masaaki finally drifted back asleep to the gentle rocking motion of his arms and Naruto carefully lowered her back into her crib. When he turned toward the door, he found Sakura standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a soft, unreadable smile on her face.

"What?" Naruto said as the two of them stepped out into the hall.

"Nothing," Sakura shook her head. "She quiets down a lot more easily for you than she does for me," she said, but Naruto thought she sounded more amused by that thought than upset.

"Maybe I'll have to keep you around for a couple more days, but then you really do need to get back to work, last least half days until you get back into the swing of things. You should see if you can have Konohamaru or some genin assigned to help with paperwork. After all, if he still wants to be Hokage someday Konohamaru will have to become acquainted with the less glamorous aspects of the job sooner or later," Sakura said and Naruto grinned roguishly, finding the idea a very appealing one.

"That's what I love about you Sakura-chan, you always have the best ideas," he said.

Sakura draped her arms over his shoulders, threading her fingers in his hair at the nape of his neck. "That's the only reason?" she said, her tone playful and just a little bit coy.

"Well, not the only reason," Naruto said, resting his hands on her waist.

Balancing on her toes, Sakura gave him a chaste kiss before taking a step back. "I'm going to lie down for a little while," she said.

Naruto let his hands fall from her waist. "Okay, I'll be coming in a minute," he said, watching Sakura disappear into the next room, where their bedroom was, and then he slipped back into his daughter's room.

For some time he stood over her with his arms supported on the railing of Masaaki's crib and watched her sleep peacefully, far too young to be disturbed by any worries or fears. He remembered a time when he was like that too. Things were a lot simpler then, when he had no one to look out for but himself, but it was also a lot lonelier.

"I think you're gonna be pretty spoiled," he said. "But that's okay, so long as you grow up happy and know what's important. I didn't have anybody when I was little and I don't want it to be that way for you. I don't want you to think I love you or your mom any less just because I have to take care of everyone else in the village too. I guess I never really thought about it, how hard it was gonna be to be Hokage and a dad."

Naruto paused, lightly stroking his calloused hand across the crown of his daughter's tiny head, brushing over her velvety hair. "But I think anything worth having in life is worth working for, right?" He thought he saw Masaaki smile, just a little, but it was probably his imagination since Sakura said she was too young for that kind of thing.

His eyelids growing heavy, Naruto decided he should join Sakura, knowing that before too long Masaaki would be wide awake and neither of them would likely sleep again until she did. Shikamaru was right about one thing; there was no rest with a crying baby in the house.

* * *

AN: I always thought NaruSaku having a daughter was cute, so yeah. I wanted to write something a little lighter to maybe give readers a breather from the angst coming up in the next chapters of Succor and in the AU Naruto fic I'll be posting soon. Keep a look out, those who are interested :P

The name Masaaki means 'true brightness' or 'pleasing brightness', or at least that's what tells me, lol. Funny thing, I was sure that Masaaki was a girl's name, but when I was checking up on the name's definition, I discovered it is generally a name given to boys. Oops. But by that time, it was already set in my mind that it would be the name of Naruto and Sakura's daughter in my headcanon, and I just didn't feel like changing it. I still think it sounds like a girl's name.

I have no idea if this oneshot is any good or complete crap. Too tired to form an opinion of it right now. Sorry if it sucked, but regardless tell me what you think. I love to hear from readers. Thanks all!

Edit: Thought I'd address this in case anyone else was confused. A guest reviewer asked if Naruto hated Shikamaru, and the answer is no, he was only supposed to come across as irritated with Shikamaru's attitude. And Shikamaru's rather cynical comments were inspired by one of the recent manga chapters where Shikamaru remarks about relationships and kids being too much work. I figured those who are up to date on manga happenings would be able to catch the reference :P


End file.
